This invention relates generally to the destruction of unexploded ordnance, and more specifically to the destruction of land and sea mines.
The elimination of unexploded ordnance (e.g. mines) from land, beaches, or sea water presents a serious problem for both military personnel and civilians. Serious humanitarian overtones exist and many methods and techniques have been devised to deal with this problem.
Detection is the first step, which is typically handled by a variety of sophisticated techniques. Once the mines are located, however, the demining activity begins and presents serious dangers. Several methods are used to actually demine an area, including: (1) using rakes, plows, or rollers to actually detonate the mines; (2) detonating explosives on top of the mine (either on the dirt above the mine or on the exposed mine itself) to cause the detonation of the mine (usually the explosives are placed on top of the mine by a boom operated remotely or by a robot); or (3) exposing the mine (i.e. by removing dirt, in the case of a land mine) and placing a flare device on top of the mine. In the case of using the flare device, the flare device causes heating from outside of the mine which eventually causes the mine""s destruction through detonation or burning.
Demining in the above-described conventional ways involves open detonation of explosives (in addition to the mine itself) which introduces hazards to people, personal property, and land. These collateral risks are undesirable for obvious reasons, including the destruction of land which the military may wish to use for transport. This is especially true when the military is demining a road as it travels toward on objective. An additional problem seen with conventional mine destruction techniques, particularly on land, involves the introduction of additional metallic debris from the mine and/or the detonation device which subsequently interferes with additional mine detection, creating false positive readings of additional mines when metal detectors sweep an area.
Several, more recent, attempts have been made which utilize the use of an inert high velocity projectile which impacts the mine causing its detonation. These efforts have generally failed because of the very high velocities necessary to cause initiation of the mine. This is especially true when the mine is comprised of trinitrotoluene (TNT), which typically requires impact velocities above 3,500 feet/second. It is especially difficult to achieve these high velocities when the projectile must travel through water or dirt in order to reach the mine.
Other, related, technologies have included an attempt at introducing reactive materials or oxidizers to the TNT charge in an effort to cause its explosion. Typically, however, without enough oxygen (in the case of the delivery of reactive materials) or without a source of ignition (in the case of delivery of an oxidizer), the TNT was not effectively or regularly destroyed.
Another problematic area regarding prior art methods and devices concerns the fact that they are xe2x80x9cmine-specificxe2x80x9d. By this, it is meant that different devices and methods were developed for the destruction of different types of mines. For example, plastic mines that are buried in sand or soil required different devices for destruction as compared to metal mines similarly situated. More specifically, if a mine destroying shell is designed to ignite or explode at a particular impact force, it may ignite or explode upon impact with the soil. This might be allowable if an adjacent plastic mine is the target for destruction, but such xe2x80x9cprematurexe2x80x9d ignition/explosion would not penetrate or destroy a metal cased mine.
If, on the other hand, the projectile""s robustness was increased (increasing the required impact force to cause ignition or explosion), so that it would ignore the shock experienced upon impact with overburden, it could impact the overburden, penetrate the overburden and metal mine shell, and destroy the metal mine. But in this case the same projectile might impact and penetrate a plastic mine without ignition or explosion because an insufficient is impact force was felt by the device, and thus fail to destroy the plastic mine. Thus, these projectiles were essentially mine-specific, and the user had to know the type of mine before attempting to destroy it, and select a suitable projectile in accordance with that knowledge.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an effective mine-destroying projectile that fully neutralizes a mine without introducing additional metal debris into the mined area. Another object of the present invention is to provide a projectile which is capable of penetrating water or dirt with enough residual velocity to still penetrate the mine shell or skin and cause its neutralization through fast deflagration. Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a projectile which is not mine-specific. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a delivery system for the projectile that does not introduce metal debris into the mined area.
The present invention provides a projectile for the destruction of unexploded ordnance comprising a reactive composition. The reactive composition comprises a reactive element or metal selected from titanium, aluminum, magnesium, lithium, beryllium, zirconium, thorium, uranium, hafnium, alloys thereof, hydrides thereof, and combinations thereof, and an oxidizer selected from lithium perchlorate, lithium chlorate, magnesium perchlorate, magnesium chlorate, ammonium perchlorate, ammonium chlorate, potassium perchlorate, potassium chlorate, oxides thereof, peroxides thereof, and combinations thereof, wherein the oxidizer is always present in a stoichiometric excess with respect to the reactive element or metal. Optionally included in the reactive composition is a binder. The most preferred metal is titanium and the most preferred oxidizer is potassium perchlorate (KClO4).
The present invention also includes the use of reactive metals in combination with materials capable of exothermically reacting with the reactive metals to form intermetallic compounds which are then oxidized during the ordnance-destroying event. This aspect of the present invention is utilized in different embodiments, and generally includes the placement of the reactive metals in combination with materials capable of exothermically reacting with the reactive metals to form intermetallic compounds toward the front of the projectile, and the remaining reactive metals and oxidizers toward the rear of the projectile.
One such example of the present invention is a projectile for the destruction of unexploded ordnance comprising a head region comprising a first reactive composition and a body region disposed behind the head region comprising a second reactive composition. The body region contains an ignition device.
Another embodiment of the present invention for controlled destruction of unexploded ordnance is a reactive projectile comprising a head region having a first reactive composition and a body region disposed behind the head region comprising a second reactive composition. The body region contains a body region ignition device, wherein the body region explodes upon impact before the head region explodes.
Also included in the present invention is a two-component projectile for the destruction of unexploded ordnance comprising a head region shell and a body region shell. The head region shell has a head wall thickness, and contains a first reactive composition. The body region shell is disposed behind the head region and has a body wall thickness. The body region comprises a second reactive composition and a body region ignition device. The head wall thickness is greater than the body wall thickness.
The present invention also includes methods of destroying unexploded ordnance using the devices of the present invention. One such method comprises the steps of impacting unexploded ordnance with a projectile having a head region and a body region disposed behind the head region wherein the head region comprises a first reactive composition and the body region comprises a second reactive composition and a body region ignition device. In this method, the body region ignition device initiates an exothermic reaction of the second reactive composition before an exothermic reaction of the first reactive composition is initiated.
Also included in the present invention is an apparatus for launching a reactive projectile in accordance with the present invention. A part of the apparatus comprises a holding device which is comprised of a platform having a hole disposed therein, and at least three legs extending from the platform. The second part of the apparatus is a reactive projectile firing device comprised of a barrel having a top and a bottom and a middle region therebetween, and an end cap disposed at the top. Included is a suspension bracket extending radially outward from the middle region of the barrel, wherein the holding device is adapted to receive the reactive projectile firing device and suspend the reactive projectile firing device by the suspension bracket.
Another part of the invention includes a system for the destruction of unexploded ordnance comprising the apparatus described above in conjunction with a reactive projectile disposed within the reactive projectile firing device, and means to expel the reactive projectile from the firing device. An alternative embodiment of this aspect of the present invention utilizes a reactive projectile firing device having at least three legs attached directly to the outside of the barrel. The legs extend downward and beyond the end of the barrel to support the reactive projectile firing device atop a mine.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, but are not restrictive, of the invention.